The Committee to consider an independent parliamentary entitlements system was established by the then Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, on 2 August 2015. The review announcement noted the rules governing the system lacked clarity and transparency and acknowledged that some parliamentary travel had been ‘inside entitlement but outside community expectations’. A simple, effective...

Introduction Although political families are sometimes viewed pejoratively as ‘dynasties’ perhaps, as political scientist Professor John Warhurst proposes, there is ‘a political gene that not only attracts members of the same family to politics but gives them the personal attributes to succeed’. In 1986 political historian Joan Rydon observed that most members of political families...

This research paper is designed to answer some of those frequently asked questions about who was the first, youngest, oldest, most often, etc. in Australian federal politics. The focus is on records for the Commonwealth Parliament although a few significant records relate to members of state parliaments.

Building on Report 7, this report explores whether the existing system of separate parliamentary representation for Māori is optimal (e.g. the Māori roll), and if not, what mechanisms could be implemented to improve the quality of representation in the future. It then proposes an alternative system.

The Audit Office exposed a scandal that sections of the press failed to take seriously, writes Rodney Tiffen.